Indiana hasn't gone to a Democrat in a Presidential election since LBJ.
Before that it was FDR. You have to have a landslide of gargantuan
proportions before Indiana's electoral votes go to the Democratic
candidate.

Eastern Oregon and Eastern Washington are, in many ways, a lot more
like Idaho than like Portland or Seattle. And yes, Spokane is known as
the capital of Northern Idaho, and it's even considered to be part of a
municipal district with Coeur d'Alene.

I saw (or rather heard - the TV was on in the background) one of those ads
the other day. Now it's my understanding that Chocola has called on his
Democratic rivals to join with him in condemning the ad.
The South Bend Tribune article is here:
<http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060404/News01/604
040381/CAT=News01>
Chocola who represents Indiana's 2nd District is one of a handful of
Republicans targetted by MoveOn's ad campaign. From the Tribune story:
"Instead of protecting us, Congressman Chocola has been caught red-handed,
protecting oil company profits while we pay more at the pump," the ad
proclaims while showing Chocola with a raised hand that is stained red.
According to the commercials, Chocola has accepted more than $80,000 from
various energy and natural resources PACs since he began running for
Congress "while voting against bills that would have penalized those
companies for price gouging."
----
I don't know whether this is the best way to get at Chocola -- frankly,
with the DeLay and Cunningham related corruption scandals and the Bush
administration's huge deficits and the quagmire in Iraq, I hadn't even
thought of the oil companies in awhile.

My general sense is that the Hoosiers who are politically aware enough to
know who MoveOn.org is have made up their minds in any case, either for or
against. Despite Republican efforts to turn MoveOn into a boogie man ala
Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton, I just don't think the less aware bulk of
Hoosiers are aware enough of MoveOn to care one way or another.

It's been two weeks since you first joined us here in Inkwell and I thank
you for your generosity in sharing your expertise and experiences with us
during that time, Doug. Thanks also to you, Hal, for leading the
conversation.
Our virtual spotlight has turned to a new guest, but that doesn't mean
this discussion must stop. The topic will remain open for more comments
indefinitely, so if you're able to continue, please feel free.
Thanks, it's been great!

Special thanks go out to you Gail. Your question prompted my typo which led
to my discovery that a primary candidate in my Congressional district was
squatting on the ".com" version of his opponent's ".org" campaign URL and
redirecting traffic. I've heard rumors that some influential local Democrats
are pretty disgruntled by that kind of sketchy behavior. So that may well
end up being something that decides the outcome of the primary race. So
that's kind of cool, even if the eventual nominee is likely to be a
sacrificial lamb regardless of what happens.

I can't thank you enough Doug! It's been a real pleasure talking
to you these past two weeks. Please do check in here whenever you
can, because the political scene will be heating up later this year
as the midterm elections approach. I would also encourage our
readers, both on and off the Well to keep up with Doug's blog.

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